Highlights
- England inflicted a series defeat on Pakistan by a margin of 4-3
- Pakistan crashed out of the Asia Cup in the Super 4 stage
- Pakistan start their T20 World Cup campaign against India on October 23, 2022
T20 World Cup 2022: Babar Azam's Pakistan team recently lost a seven-match T20I series to England by a margin of 4-3. In one of its kind of a series that was equally contested, the Pakistan cricket team faltered at the last minute. The resurgence of Pakistan cricket in the last 12 months has been a testament to the brand of cricket that they have played. In the 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup, Pakistan defeated India by a margin of 10 wickets.
The boys in green were one of the favourites to win the 2022 edition of the Asia Cup, but a weak middle order and Babar Azam's dismal run derailed their campaign. As far as the Pakistan team is concerned, apart from Mohammad Rizwan, the batting unit has been in complete disarray and it has faltered at various crucial stages. With the series hanging in balance, Pakistan fans and cricket experts were backing their home team to do well and inflict a series defeat on Moeen Ali and his men. England amassed a total of 209 runs while batting first in the seventh T20I. Pakistan certainly knew that they had to bat well to get to this target but to their dismay, both Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan lost their wickets in quick succession. As a result, the middle order couldn't do much and England ended up winning the match and the series.
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This has now become a pattern for the Pakistan cricket team. If the opposition, by any means, manages to dismiss both Babar and Rizwan early, it leaves the Pakistan middle order and lower middle order vulnerable. This in many ways was pretty evident in the Asia Cup matches where the boys in green looked pretty mediocre with the bat against weaker sides such as Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. Now Shoaib Akhtar has weighed into this discussion and has said that he is worried about the middle order.
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Shoaib Akhtar on his YouTube channel said:
Pakistan might just crash out of the World Cup in the very first stage. The middle order isn't firing and this is not a good sign. The team can't solely depend on Rizwan and Babar. It is high time that the middle order takes up more responsibility and the team management understands the fact that the middle order has to be solid. Stronger sides will expose Pakistan's shortcomings and this will certainly diminish their chances of winning the World Cup.
Babar Azam and co. start their World Cup campaign against India on October 23, 2022, at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
